Haskell in for England
1 March 2007, 10:35 am
Uncapped Wasps flanker James Haskell has been named in a 28-man England training squad for the RBS 6 Nations clash against title favourites France at Twickenham.
Haskell will join 21 of the players on duty when England were crushed by Ireland at Croke Park last weekend - injured Gloucester full-back Olly Morgan is the exception - plus Mark Cueto, Jason Robinson, Mike Catt, Tim Payne, Steve Borthwick and Nick Easter.
Morgan, who went off with a shoulder injury in Dublin, was due to see a specialist on Thursday, while England head coach Brian Ashton will monitor the progress of wing Robinson (neck) and flanker Magnus Lund (concussion) .
The 21-year-old Haskell has impressed for Wasps this term, while his representative career saw him graduate from last season's Grand Slam-winning England Under-21 side to play for England Saxons against Italy A and Ireland A in recent weeks.
Bath captain Borthwick will put pressure on the second-row pairing of Louis Deacon and Danny Grewcock to face France on Sunday week, while Sale Sharks wing Cueto could feature in England colours for the first time since Andy Robinson's last game as coach against South Africa more than three months ago.
Injuries sidelined Cueto, scorer of 13 tries in 18 Tests, since the Springboks encounter, but he recently returned to action with his club.
With Morgan and his Gloucester colleague Iain Balshaw (groin) out of the running, Wasps’ Josh Lewsey could find himself at full-back against France, with Robinson - if fit - Cueto and David Strettle challenging for the wing berths.
Robinson, who scored three tries in England’s RBS 6 Nations victories over Scotland and Italy, missed out at Croke Park because of a neck problem sustained during training.
However, he has been advised that surgery is not required and Ashton will be keeping his fingers crossed he is fit for selection.
Strettle, meanwhile, answered a late call to replace Robinson and delivered an outstanding Test debut display, scoring England’s solitary try in a record 43-13 defeat.
Ashton said: “I will be monitoring the progress from their injuries of Jason Robinson and Magnus Lund, and wish Olly Morgan, who is seeing a specialist today, a speedy recovery from his shoulder injury.”
Ashton, who is due to name his starting line-up next Tuesday, will look closely at the effectiveness of centre partnership Mike Tindall and Andy Farrell, but it is up front where England were exposed by a rampant Irish pack.
Changes in every row of the scrum cannot be ruled out, with prop Julian White, lock Tom Palmer, flanker Tom Rees and the recalled Borthwick all presenting strong selection cases.
England, despite their Dublin debacle, remain in the title shake-up, but defeat to France - a country they have not beaten since the 2003 World Cup semi-final triumph in Sydney - would render those hopes redundant.
A thrilled Haskell described the prospect of training with England next week as "a fantastic experience."
He said: "I am obviously very, very excited about it.
"It is going to be a huge opportunity for me to learn from players and coaches at the highest level of the game.
"Brian Ashton has said that he is picking players on form, so obviously it is a huge compliment to have been selected as a result of my recent playing performances.
"But that also means you are only as good as your last game, and for me, Wasps have a huge game against Bristol this weekend, and I will be working hard to maintain my focus on that club game before moving on to the challenges of training with the England squad next week.
"Next week's training camp will be a fantastic experience of what it is like to be involved in preparing for international rugby."
Backs: J Lewsey (Wasps), J Robinson (Sale Sharks), M Cueto (Sale Sharks), D Strettle (Harlequins), M Tait (Newcastle), M Tindall (Gloucester), A Farrell (Saracens), M Catt (London Irish), J Wilkinson (Newcastle), T Flood (Newcastle), H Ellis (Leicester), S Perry (Bristol).
Forwards: P Freshwater (Perpignan), P Vickery (Wasps, capt), J White (Leicester), T Payne (Wasps), G Chuter (Leicester), L Mears (Bath), L Deacon (Leicester), D Grewcock (Bath), S Borthwick (Bath), T Palmer (Wasps), N Easter (Harlequins), J Worsley (Wasps), J Haskell (Wasps), M Lund (Sale Sharks), T Rees (Wasps), M Corry (Leicester).